Alphonse Elric

Alphonse Elric (アルフォンス・エルリック Arufonsu Erurikku?), commonly shortened to just Al (アル Aru?), is the deuteragonist of the Fullmetal Alchemist series. He is the younger brother of Edward Elric. Al is also a victim of a failed Human Transmutation experiment to bring back his late mother, which ultimately resulted in his brother losing his left leg and right arm and Alphonse his entire body. Before it left completely, Edward managed to alchemically bind Alphonse's soul to a large suit of armour via a blood seal.

Alphonse spends most of the series in this form which, while incredibly powerful and durable, is also completely unfeeling, unable to do basic things like eat, sleep, or feel a sense of touch. To restore their bodies to their original forms, the brothers end up leaving their hometown of Resembool in search of the legendary Philosopher's Stone, the only known way to get around the law of equivalent exchange. In this version he's 18 years old.

In his gunmetal-colored steel armor body, Alphonse stands out as one of the tallest characters in the series, inching out such stalwart man-mountains as Captain Buccaneer and Major Armstrong while absolutely dwarfing his older brother, who only comes up to his elbow at the beginning of the series. As such, a running gag in the series is that he is frequently mistaken for being the famous "Fullmetal Alchemist" (due to his full-armored steel body) in place of his brother - the rightful bearer of the title. He is also often mistaken for being the older brother or even Ed's father on occasion. The helmet that comprises Al's face is adorned with a large, conical horn in the middle of the forehead, has a pair of parallel, horizontal vents beneath each half-moon eye hole and a fang motif just above the protruding chin. The top of the helmet also sports a white, plume-like ribbon that hangs down to the small of the suit's back. Al thinks of this ribbon as his "hair". Later in the series, the ribbon is cut short during a skirmish with the Fort Briggs Mountain Patrol, much to Al's chagrin.

The trunk of the body also consists of a removable breastplate with a protruding, triangular shelf on the chest just below the throat guard, a high collar that extends out of the back and surrounds the rear and sides of the neck, and a large, circular leather patch on either side of the abdomen. A breechcloth covers the groin and painted on the left shoulder is a red Flamel, signifying Alphonse's tutelage under the master alchemist, Izumi Curtis.

Al's armor body also appears to have a triple spike motif, as each shoulder is adorned with a trio of large conical spikes lined in a row and each elbow, knee, and foot carries small, spiky protrusions as well. Al also appears to have a white band around his right leg which holds up a small weapons holster.

Inside the empty armor is a curtain of chain mail for the protection of its former wearer as well as a small alchemical rune drawn in Edward's blood, which binds Al's soul to the metal by way of the iron in both. Al's "Blood Seal" is unique - likely of Edward's own design - and denotes a small flame locked in place by multiple intersecting polygons.

In many ways, Alphonse's calm and passive disposition exists as a foil to his older brother's more abrasive personality. Al is kindhearted, notably compassionate and patient almost to a fault, acting often out of protective selflessness for his loved ones, new friends and sometimes even toward his enemies (Scar is a particular example). Having had his psychological growth stunted at the age of ten due to loss of his physical body, Alphonse retains a childlike purity in the face of all his encountered horrors; however, despite his age, he has always displayed a significantly higher level of maturity than Edward. Though Al is as passionate as his brother, he has remarked that his anger takes longer to spark and jokes that he is always beaten to the punch by Edward's outbursts.

On the other hand, Al's heart does contain some darkness born from the tragedies of his life. Plagued with insecurities about his own uncertain existence inside a suit of armor, Al craves the human warmth of his former life in desperate silence, fears that he will never again know closeness, and is sometimes overwhelmed by the suspicion that he himself is not human. It is also revealed that Alphonse carries the added burden of blaming himself for the failure of his mother's resurrection and the subsequent loss of his brother's limbs.

Al's gentler disposition leads him to be a very protective person. While Ed is often the one to charge the enemy, Al is usually the one to quite literally shield others, using his durable body to protect those he cares about. As a result, Al is overall quite pacifistic and selfless, disliking violence in general and feeling extreme guilt and responsibility when he is unable to help or protect others. Even though regaining his original body is one of, if not his primary goal, he states that it is not worth it if the people around him are hurt or killed in the process.

As Edward detests his own diminutive stature, Alphonse dislikes being reminded of his large size and often becomes melancholy when it inhibits or calls undue attention to him, lamenting that it was not his choice to become so big. As such, he displays a great deal of pleasure when others treat him as a child instead of the hulking brutish adult persona that his appearance gives off.

Possibly as part of his desire for warmth and love, Alphonse displays a great affection for small cats and has developed a bad habit of picking up stray kittens that he finds over the course of his travels, hiding them inside his armor cavity from his disapproving brother.

On a more subtle level, Alphonse appears to have a great fondness for women as well. Particularly sensitive himself, Alphonse has a gift for complimentary and inspirational speech far surpasses his brother's, who is often well-intentioned but very blunt and candid. While this does not negate the effect his armor body has on ordinary girls, it does allow him to leave an impression on the few women with whom he regularly associates such as May Chang, Riza Hawkeye, Rose Thomas, Lan Fan and Sheska. His fondness of women is touched on even outside of the manga, with him being shown to have a very good relationship with the game-only characters of Corniche Royce and Armony Eiselstein. In situations where Edward isn't present, Alphonse is often paired up with female comrades. Additionally, in many of the omake, while played for laughs, Al's primary motivation is often to find a girlfriend, or even have his "own kingdom of cute girls" (Chapter 41 omake).

Aside from the warmth of physical contact, what Alphonse misses most about having a human body seems to be delicious food. He keeps a journal of all the various foods he will eat upon returning to his body in order to keep his spirits up (a practice encouraged by Edward) and has stated that his fondest wish is to have some of Winry's apple pie.

Alphonse also experiences anxiety about having to spend long hours alone while most people are sleeping, as his armored form has no need or ability to sleep. He implies that in this time, he finds himself prone to intrusive thoughts and disturbing contemplation.

Al holds to the idea that using a Philosopher's Stone is equivalent to murder, but also understands that the wills of the Philosopher's Stone's component souls are also important. This is what allowed him to use the power of a Philosopher's Stone against Pride and Kimblee.

Abilities

Having apprenticed under the master alchemist Izumi Curtis, Alphonse has been trained to condition his body through regular workouts and sparring as part of her philosophy, "to train the spirit, first train the body." As such, Al has become a particularly competent hand-to-hand fighter, able to hold his own against armed opponents and even skilled martial arts practitioners. In fact, Edward had stated that Alphonse is an even more skilled combatant than himself and notes that he has never beaten him in a fight, even since before Izumi's training. Additionally, his armor body has several combat advantages including - strengthened offense and defense, imperviability to bullets, inexhaustible stamina, invulnerability against extreme temperatures and an exemption from needing to breathe, eat or sleep. Unfortunately, these are all tempered by the fact that he cannot take any actions that might cause the Blood Seal inside his armor to be damaged so as to prevent his soul from becoming detached.

Like his brother, Alphonse also wields a genius-level intellect and prodigious proficiency in the studies of biology, chemistry, and alchemy. While Edward is apparently the greater mind of the two, Alphonse does not trail far behind and has been able to match wits with his brother since the days they learned alchemy together as children. Alphonse, skilled with words, is capable of solving complex alchemical puzzles and mysteries and has displayed an encyclopedic knowledge of his craft, but seems to lack Edward's amazing sense of focus, instead developing the social skills in which his older brother is so sorely deficient.

Alchemy

Alphonse is a particularly competent alchemist who transmutes quickly, cleanly and with remarkable attention to detail in the style of his master, Izumi. In combat, he uses alchemy to augment his offensive and defensive capabilities, crafting weapons for melee strikes and altering his surroundings to gain the advantage in the same way as his brother - transmuting columns, battering rams, and traps for his enemies, albeit without the gaudy touches that Edward usually gives his works. While in general, his alchemy is more conventional than that of Edward (who often uses it in unusual forms to outsmart his opponents), he has displayed greater creativity when the situation called for it. For instance, when equipped with a Philosopher's Stone, he was able to use his alchemy in unexpected ways, like transmuting flash bangs, flexible swords, and conical earth-prisons to surprise his opponents.

However, Alphonse's own alchemy is unique in several ways that make themselves apparent over the course of the two diverging storylines. From the beginning of the story, it becomes clear that - unlike most alchemists - Al does not require direct physical contact with the transmutation arrays he draws in order to manipulate matter; merely by standing over a circle and applying concentration (sometimes displayed as his crossing one hand flat over the other with both palms facing down), he can manipulate matter without touching it - a feat that has yet to be displayed by any other human alchemist without an alchemical amplifier. This may be due to the nature of his existence as a soul inside a suit of armor, he may be able to protrude the influence of his soul over larger distances, unlike ordinary humans whose souls are confined within their skin.

After recalling his memories of the gate, Alphonse gains the additional ability to transmute without having to draw a transmutation circle at all. Having passed through the Gate as a result of the failed Human Transmutation, the ability had remained dormant inside his soul so long as his more tragic memories of the event stayed repressed. But after he regains his memories in Chapter 30, Alphonse discovers that the skill he had watched his brother and master perform so many times now belonged to him as well and puts it into practice for the first time in Chapter 33.